GSA
by theypreferthetermpeople
Summary: Jude attends his first GSA meeting, on Connor's recommendation, and learns a lot, including about himself. How will his moms react to the news?


_I've been wanting to write something like this for awhile, now, and I just couldn't hold it in any longer. I hope it came out like I wanted it to, and that other people enjoy it. Obviously Jude's experience in this story isn't everyone's experience, so basic disclaimer there. This is set in present-day Fosters, though kind of ignoring the whole Callie-running-away and Brandon-kissing-her plotpoints. Also, I don't own The Fosters._

* * *

"Hey, Jude!" The young boy turned at the sound of his name and saw Connor racing down the hallway. He raised his hand in a half wave, and then slammed his locker shut, waiting for his friend's arrival.  
"No running in the halls," a teacher reminded as Connor streaked past, but he paid her no heed and continued his dash, sliding to a stop next to Jude's locker.  
"Hey, what are you doing after school today?" he asked eagerly.  
"I dunno," Jude replied with a shrug. "Do you wanna come over? I can ask Stef an- I mean, moms." He blushed a little, correcting himself.  
"No, I was wondering if you wanted to come to GSA with me," Connor invited.  
"What's GSA?"  
"Gay-Straight Alliance," Connor explained. Then, upon seeing Jude's face twist, he added, "You don't have to be gay to go or anything. It's just fun. I thought you'd like it."  
"I'll have to find Callie and ask," Jude said, a small smile creeping onto his face.  
"We meet in Susan's room," Connor told him. "See you there!"  
"Bye." Jude waved again, and then studied his nails. They were green today, with flecks of silver. Mariana had done them on Sunday night. He was suddenly very aware that Callie would not let him go to this GSA thing, and he set off down the corridors to find one of his other siblings.

Jude spied his eldest brother, Brandon, from the back, standing at the end of the hall talking to his friend Aidan. Like Connor had five minutes ago, Jude set into a run, hoping to catch Brandon before he left. The small boy whizzed down the hall, unnoticed in the sea of high schoolers, and paused just a half step behind his brother, breathing deeply and smoothing his hair. He tapped Brandon on the elbow, and he turned around.  
"Hey, Jude!" Brandon said, and then both boys chorused in unison, "Like the Beatles!" It was their mama's favourite joke, and she made it pretty much every time anyone said the song title, so all the kids had it burned into their brains. "What's up, bud?" Brandon asked..  
"Umm, I wanna go to a club," Jude said hesitantly. "Can you tell St- moms?" Brandon smiled at his littlest brother's slip up.  
"Sure, bud," he said, nodding. "But you know you could just go to Mama's office and tell her?"  
"This way's easier," Jude said, nodding emphatically to hide his lie. "Okay bye!" He turned and dashed back down the corridor, headed for Susan's room. He knew if he'd asked Lena, she would have wanted to know what club, and he didn't feel ready to say that out loud.

"Anchor Beach Middle School GSA, please come to order!" The tall, brunette eighth grader banged a small wooden gavel on the front table, and the chatter slowly ceased. Jude had only had time to slide into a chair next to Connor and grin at his friend before the meeting was called to order, and he had no idea what to expect. "We're gonna start with introductions," the girl continued. "Name, pronouns, grade, and favourite after-school snack. I'll go first. I'm Lizzie, she/her/hers, eighth grade, and I like Goldfish. We'll go around the room that way," she added, pointing.  
One by one, the kids in the room introduced themselves. Jude, a little lost, was glad Connor's turn was before his, and figured he'd just say whatever Connor said.  
"Hey, I'm Connor, I use he/him/his, I'm a seventh grader, and my favourite snack is probably Cheetos," the boy said, and then turned to the next student - Jude. All eyes were on him, and he began to feel nervous.  
"I'm Jude," he started hesitantly, "and, umm, I use, uh, he? And um... him?" Connor nodded encouragingly, a gesture echoed by much of the club, including the leader, Lizzie. "I'm in seventh grade, and I, uh, don't really like snacks," he admitted, frowning slightly and looking at his lap.  
"That's cool," Lizzie said, smiling. "Thanks for joining us, Jude."  
The introductions continued on, but Jude didn't hear much, focusing instead on Lizzie's kind smile and the way her gaze lingered on him for an extra second.  
"Alright folks," Lizzie said, bringing focus back to the front. "Most of y'all were here last week, so you know we did a Trans 101 workshop, and for those of you who missed, or are new-" She paused to smile at Jude. "-we're gonna do a little recap, and then we'll go into Part 1 of our Gender Justice workshop, cool?" Heads around the room nodded. "Awesome, then I'll invite up Paisley, Skyler, and David to take it away!" She sat down, and three other eighth graders took her place at the front.

The meeting continued, and Jude listened eagerly, even taking notes, though no one else was. The information was all new to him, and the words seemed like another language - Transgender? Genderqueer? Non-discrimination policy? He lapped it up, empowered by this new knowledge, and the feeling of security he had in this room, where he was sure no one would comment on his nail polish.  
After the meeting, Connor turned to him.  
"So, what'd you think? I know it was kinda boring today," he apologized. "I forgot the presentations were-" Jude cut him off.  
"It was awesome," he said, eyes glowing.  
"I'm glad you liked it," Connor smiled back.  
"Hey, dude, nice nail polish!" a stranger commented, giving him a thumbs up. It was the same words as Jude's bullies had used, but said in an entirely different tone. This was a compliment. Jude sat up a little straighter.  
"Thanks," he returned. "My sister did it."  
"Can you do water marbling?" the stranger continued, leaning on Jude's desk.  
"I don't know what is," Jude admitted, "but I can ask my sister!"  
"It's so cool. Hey, I'm Skyler, by the way," the stranger identified. "Are you are?"  
"Jude," Jude said with a smile.  
"Like the Beatles song!" Skyler joked.  
"Yeah, L- my mom makes that joke all the time," Jude confessed.  
"Hey, I gotta go, but I'll see you around, 'kay?" Skyler said grinning. Jude nodded. "Cool, catch ya later!" And with that, the older kid had gone.  
"Was that a boy or a girl?" Jude asked Connor in a hushed voice. Connor laughed.  
"Skyler's genderqueer. They don't identify as either a boy or a girl," he explained. Jude nodded, interested. "Hey, I gotta go, Jude, but I'll see you in history, okay?"  
"Bye, Connor," Jude waved, lost in thought.

At home, Jude slipped through the front door quietly, taking his backpack up to his room. He heard piano music coming from Brandon's room, guitar from Callie and Mariana's, and nothing from his own, which was unusual, because Jesús' music could usually be heard despite his headphones. Jude opened the door to see Jesús and Lexi lying on Jesús' bed making out. He dropped his bag with a thud, slightly shocked.  
"Jude, get out!" Jesús yelled, throwing a pair of socks at him, and Jude beat a hasty retreat.  
He meandered downstairs, standing for a long moment on the steps into the kitchen, watching his moms. Lena was cooking, her hair up atop her head and an apron wrapped around her waist. Stef was sitting at the table sipping a glass of water, and every once in awhile, Lena would pause her work to drop a kiss on her wife's head, or rest her chin on her shoulder for a moment. It was during one of these romantic gestures that Stef looked up and saw Jude.  
"Hey, baby," she said with a smile. "Anything we can do for you?" Lena looked up too, and set down her spatula on the stove.  
"Umm, no..." Jude said, coming slowly into the kitchen.  
"Everything okay, love?" Lena asked in concern, putting her hands on Stef's shoulders.  
"Yeah," Jude replied faintly, his voice a whisper.  
"You wanna talk?" Stef questioned, a note of confusion in her kind voice.  
"Umm." Jude felt like his throat was closing up. _Why was this so hard?_  
"Have boys been picking on you again, Jude?" Lena asked, her mouth thinning into a straight line. Jude shook his head.  
"No, not really," he said, feeling a bit frantic. _Would they stop asking things, already?_ He felt like his head would burst.  
"What's going on, love?" Stef said softly, reaching out a hand. Jude sat down on a stool opposite his mothers and put his hand in Stef's.  
"Well, I went to GSA today," he started, and then paused, a fearful look in his eyes.  
"Yeah?" Stef encouraged, squeezing his hand.  
"Yeah, and um, I really liked it, and I, uh, I think... I think I might, umm, be... uhhh." Jude stumbled over his words, not sure how to say what he wanted to, and suddenly conscious of his shiny nails, which he covered by curling his free hand into a fist.  
Stef and Lena exchanged a look. They'd been wondering about Jude's sexuality, given his close friendship with Connor and affinity for all things feminine. They didn't want to assume, though, or play into stereotypes, and it was entirely possible Connor was just his friend.  
"I don't think I'm a boy," Jude suddenly said, and then bit his lower lip, his chest tight. His moms exchanged another look, and it felt like forever before Lena made eye contact with him.  
"Okay," she said slowly. "Like, you think you're a girl?" she clarified.  
"No," Jude said, still unsure of how they'd react. "I don't think I'm either," he admitted. "I met this kid today, Skyler, who says he- I mean, they are genderqueer... And that means h- they aren't a boy or a girl. And I think maybe I'm like that." He sighed, grateful it was all out in the open, and looked down at his lap, waiting for their response.  
"Okay," Lena said simply. Jude let another minute go by. _Was that all_?_  
_"Thank you for telling us," Stef added, nodding gently.  
"Can we give you a hug?" Lena asked. Jude nodded, and got up from his chair to walk around the table. Both moms pounced on him.  
"Mama sandwich!" Lena cried, and Stef kissed the side of his head. A single tear trickled down Jude's face, and Stef wiped it away without question.  
"You know we love you no matter what, baby," Stef assured him.  
"So much," Lena added. "So much love." She kissed the other side of his head.  
"Thank you," Jude whispered, his former fear gone.  
Suddenly, the three of them became aware of an acrid smell emanating from the stove.  
"Oh no, the fish!" Lena cried, grabbing her spatula and a pot holder. She scraped the blackened remains off the bottom of the skillet into the trashcan and looked at the mess ruefully.  
"How does pizza sound?" Stef asked, and Jude smiled.  
"Go work on your homework, bud," she said, gesturing with her chin. "I'll call the pizza place."  
Jude nodded, and skipped upstairs. His chest felt a hundred times lighter. He knocked on Mariana's bedroom door, and a grumpy "come in" issued from inside. He entered and saw his sisters each sitting on their beds.  
"I can go," Mariana offered, seeing him look between the two of them.  
"No, I want to talk to you," Jude said.  
"I'll leave," Callie said easily, taking her notebook and pen with her and ruffling his hair as she passed.  
"What's up?" Mariana asked as Callie closed the door behind her.  
"Do you know how to do water marbling?" Jude asked, sitting on the edge of his sister's bed.


End file.
